Potential Predator, or Helpful Creature?

[chezcaille]

This year I had the new and unpleasant experience of having to cull some quail who would not be for eating. I didn't feel right throwing the bodies in the garbage, so I buried them instead. I thought I'd buried them deeply enough for them to be undisturbed, but I was mistaken.

The next day, the grave seemed to have been carefully dug into. Just enough to take one bird. No mess was left of any kind, not even dirt scattered. It seemed to have been very neatly and meticulously dug. I filled it in and packed it down.

The next day, I found it the same way again, and every day until I assume there were no more bodies left to take. It looked like the creature tried digging down further to try to find anything more on the final night, and then didn't bother to dig again.

On one hand, I really appreciate something being so neat and tidy and also making use of something I couldn't. On the other hand, I'm not sure what sort of carnivore I've rung the dinner bell for and fed quail to for several days.

What sort of creatures might scavenge like that?

 

[CluckerFamily]

My first thought was fox.
Lime works great to sprinkle on the dead bodies before filling in the hole. It helps decompose the body faster and hides the smell.

 

[mowin]

Fox, coon, opossum, skunk, neighbors cat.

 

[cmom]

This year I had the new and unpleasant experience of having to cull some quail who would not be for eating. I didn't feel right throwing the bodies in the garbage, so I buried them instead. I thought I'd buried them deeply enough for them to be undisturbed, but I was mistaken.

The next day, the grave seemed to have been carefully dug into. Just enough to take one bird. No mess was left of any kind, not even dirt scattered. It seemed to have been very neatly and meticulously dug. I filled it in and packed it down.

The next day, I found it the same way again, and every day until I assume there were no more bodies left to take. It looked like the creature tried digging down further to try to find anything more on the final night, and then didn't bother to dig again.

On one hand, I really appreciate something being so neat and tidy and also making use of something I couldn't. On the other hand, I'm not sure what sort of carnivore I've rung the dinner bell for and fed quail to for several days.

What sort of creatures might scavenge like that?

If you put a camera out I bet it's a coyote. Lessons learned the hard way so I bury the birds in the pens nice and deep. Good luck.